Dive Deeper: Pride and Progress

This morning the Supreme Court stated that LGBTQ American's can't be fired because of who they love. Why it took until 2020 I do not know. (And why last week on the anniversary of Pulse, another rule change, by the administration, stripped protections for Trans Individuals and legally allowed their access to healthcare to be denied, I don't know, and it breaks my heart.) 

I mean this is personal, as an Ace (asexual), I am part of the LGBTQ+ family. Before today I could have been fired because of my Ace identity. The chances of such an occurrence happening to me with the collective privileges I have as a cis-gendered asexual white woman were low but still real. For individuals who do not have these levels of privileges (such as trans women of color etc), these occurrences happened day-in and day-out. 

Who you are or who you love has zero impact on your ability to do a professional job. 

Pete posted on Facebook putting today in context. 

Now proving that you were fired because your LGBTQ+ identity will still always be hard  (Check out Kimberlé Crenshaw's Ted Talk on intersectionality to see this issue in a different context), but this supreme court ruling is still important progress. 

But I also know while this is a step in the right direction, it is only a step, like gaining marriage equality was just a step. For every step forward we make, the path to full inclusion, full respect for all individuals, full belonging, love, boldness, excellence, and joy, feels like it gets a bit longer. Yes, we are making progress but we still have so far to go.  

Paraphrasing something Billy Porter said during Curator Culture at The [Virtual] Bass with Pete Buttigieg and Billy Porter why are we still debating the humanity of other people? 

I believe as a people, as a community, as a nation, and as a world, we all need to take a deep look at our systems and institutions. We need to acknowledge and lament the white supremacy, homophobia, transphobia, and sexism which has been built into our systems and then boldly rebuild these institutions from the ground up consciously removing these concepts which dehumanize us all. 

So personally, today is a day to celebrate progress, but also a time to think about how long the path has been, and how long the path is still yet to be. As a people, as a country, as a world, we are still debating the humanity of other people. We still are trapped in patterns that say some people count more as people then other people do. All people are people and are worthy of Love and Belonging or as many have said no one is free unless we all are free. Free to live. Free to love. Free to simply be.